Carl W. Kenney II is an award winning columnist and novelist. He is committed to engaging readers into a meaningful discussion related to matters that impact faith and society. He grapples with pondering the impact faith has on public space while seeking to understand how public space both hinders and enhances the walk of faith.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Carlos Riley, Jr. says he had to fight for his life after Officer Stewart pulled his gun

Carlos Riley, Jr. claims his life was at risk.The evidence supports his assertion.

We shouldn’t assume he’s telling a lie.

Why would we? Should we take the word of Kelly Stewart,
the police officer shot in the foot after a scuffle with Riley?

The logical response is to side with Stewart.It’s built within the mentality of most of us
to honor and respect law enforcement officers.We’re taught as children to trust the men and women who carry a badge.
That’s what we’re taught, and anyone who questions the authority of a police
officer must be telling lies.

It’s not always that cut and dry.There are too many examples of rogue police
officers to validate their report in all cases.Durham has its share of overzealous men and women in blue who use power
like a weapon of mass destruction.

The arrest of Riley came after the horrific case of
Stephanie Nickerson.Nickerson was
beaten by Cpl. Brian Schnee when police responded to a noise complaint on Oct.
28, 2012. Pictures of Nickerson’s battered face rapidly spread on the internet.
Nickerson was charged with resisting an officer and assaulting a government
official.

Charges were dropped on Jan 24 and Schnee resigned from the police department
after it was discovered he had used excessive force.

Riley’s arrest raises serious questions regarding the
credibility of Durham’s Police Department. Is there a culture of police
brutality aimed at black men and women?

Riley was arrested on December 18 at 10:00 am shortly
after dropping his girlfriend off at work.Without reason, he was stopped by Stewart who was driving an unmarked
police vehicle and wearing street clothes.

Not knowing Stewart was an officer, Riley drove
off.Stewart chased Riley and turned on
his lights.Riley stops after seeing the
lights.

Stewart approaches the car and accused Riley of
smoking marijuana.Riley denies the
accusation.Riley claims Stewart jumps
into the car and begins to choke and punch him.He says he couldn’t breathe.

Riley alleges that Stewart threatened to kill him and
began to draw his gun.

Stewart shot himself in the leg.

Riley says he was afraid he would be killed.He grabbed Stewart’s gun and pulled it
away.He helped Stewart out of the car
and fled to protect himself.

He was afraid the next bullet would be for him. I
would fear the same.Wouldn’t you?

Within a few hours, Riley turned himself in.He’s facing state and federal charges.

Riley claims Stewart choked him.Riley claims Stewart drew his gun.He jumped into his car. He had no reason to
stop Riley.He wasn’t smoking marijuana.Does any of this make sense to you?

Should we assume Riley is telling lies, or is it
possible that his life was in danger that day?

Riley is the nephew of Walter P. Riley, a Durham
native noted for his work as an attorney in the San Francisco Bay area.The Riley family will gather today at the
Durham Police department to protest the arrest of Carlos Riley, Jr.

Nia Wilson, executive director of SpiritHouse, is
helping the family in their quest for justice.She emailed the following statement:

A 10 year
study by UNC political science professor Frank Baumgartner, found that Durham
has the highest racial profiling, racial disparity divide among any of North
Carolina’s 100 counties.Black
motorists, in Durham, are unjustly stopped, searched, and are 900% more likely
to be incarcerated for criminal conduct than whites suspects. Yet, when we hear
of cases like Stephanie Nickerson and Carlos Riley Jr., the assumption and
general opinion, is that they must have done something wrong. It makes it easy for
people to walk away, rather than to do the hard work of confronting a systemic
problem that heavily impacts the African American community. Carlos, like
Stephanie, did nothing wrong on December 18. On the contrary exercised his
constitutional right to stand up for himself and protect his life.

Last night I attended a film viewing, at the
Hayti Heritage center, of a new documentary about Mumia Abul Jamal. Mumia has
served over 30 years in a Philadelphia prison for a crime that he did not
commit. Mumia, who continues to declares his innocence, has said countless
times, “My only crime is that I survived.”Carlos Riley Jr. could say the same.

The rally takes place today in front of the police
department at 505 W. Chapel Hill Street.It begins at 4:30 pm.

It could be assumed that Carlos Riley, Jr. is just
telling lies.What are the consequences
if he is telling the truth?

Are we willing to uphold the integrity of a badge when
there are too many examples of tainted police? And, what happens when the word of the police outweighs the evidence?

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Carl W. Kenney II

Carl was named the best serious columnist of 2011 by the North Carolina Press Association for his work with the News & Observer's community paper The Durham News and in 2016 by the Missouri Press Association for his columns in the Columbia Missourian. He is a columnist with the News & Observer and Co-Executive Producer of "God of the Oppressed" an upcoming documentary film on black liberation theology. He is a former Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri - School of Journalism and Adjunct Instructor at Duke University, the Center for Documentary Studies. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He furthered his education at Duke University and attained a Master of Divinity. He was named a Fellow in Pastoral Leadership Development at the Princeton Theological Seminary on May 14, 2005. He is a freelance writer with his commentary appearing in The Washington Post, Religious News Services,The Independent Weekly and The Durham Herald-Sun. Carl is the author of two novels: “Preacha’ Man” and the sequel “Backslide”.
He has led congregations in Missouri and North Carolina